This invention relates generally to the scrubbing of exhaust air within a ventilating hood and before it is discharged to the atmosphere, and more particularly pertains the recirculation of wash water containing a supply of detergent and which is useful for scrubbing of grease and other debris from the exhaust gases and air and for the accumulation and disposition of same through means that provide for a recirculation and reuse of the scrubbing water during operations of a ventilating system and subsequent disposition of contaminated solution from the system followed by regeneration of the solution.
Ventilating hoods have been around, and have been in existence, for many years, and are used primarily in conjunction with cooking devices, such as in restaurants, where codes require that the exhaust air and gases generated during a cooking procedures be significantly eliminated from the kitchen, or other facility. Examples of ventilating hoods can be seen in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,572, which U.S. patent is owned by a common assignee of the invention of this current application, in addition to the other prior art patents cited therein. In addition, there are a significant number of ventilating hoods that incorporate scrubbing means, principally for use in application for scrubbing the interior of the hood so as to eliminate accumulated greases, primarily for the purpose of preventing the incidence of fires and reduce manual cleaning requirements. Examples of these types of hoods can be seen in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,744 to Jensen, while the patent to Wisting, U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,652, shows the application of cascading water-detergent solution for removing any emulsified grease from the shown hood. The patent to Baker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,809, shows another form of exhaust hood with the exhaust air being washed by means of a spray. The patent to Graswich, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,324,629, shows upwardly directed spray means for use in providing a mist through which the exhaust gases must flow before exiting from the shown hood. The patent to Moragne, U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,108, shows another form of air cleaner, wherein the exhaust air is baffled for passage through a cleaning solvent before it is discharged to the atmosphere. The patent to Costarella, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,311, shows the application of a pair of sprays, directed into the exhaust plenums, in order to fill the same with moisture and through which the soot and grease particles must pass before exhausting. The patent to Wright, U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,329, discloses a grease extractor for kitchen ventilating systems. This device discloses a rather complex baffling system, through which the air is swirled apparently in an effort to eliminate any grease from the exhaust stream. The patent to Darm, U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,343, shows another form of grease-collecting heat exchanger installation. The patent to Wright, U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,739, shows another type of ventilating system, wherein a spray of moisture is directed throughout the exhaust chamber, in order to attain condensing of its ladened grease, and for extraction before the exhaust air passes through its outlet chamber. The patent to King, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,019, shows another type of grease extractor arranged within a rather complex formed hood, wherein a cooled water spray is apparently injected within its exhaust chamber, to achieve grease removal.
The patent to Kaufman, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,735, shows another type of air ventilation and washing system. Spraying along the path of the air flow is noted. The patent to Scott, U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,765, shows a further type of air cleaning apparatus and method. The U.S. patent to Fritz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,373, shows an apparatus and method for cleaning air, wherein some spraying occurs at the upper segment of the unit, just prior to the entrance of the air through its exhaust duct. The patent to Stahl, U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,642, shows a control of range hood emissions, through the application of a fiber bed-type mist eliminating apparatus.
There are also a large variety of other types of air wash canopy ventilating systems, which are marketed by a variety of companies, such as the Ventroguard, as manufactured and sold by Quality Industries, of LaVergne, Tenn. Similar type units are marketed by companies such as Caddy Corporation of America, Duo-Aire, Inc., of Kalamazoo, Mich., a fire and wash sprayer system for a kitchen hood, as sold by Ventroguard, Inc. A clean air ventilator, and which incorporates nozzle spraying, is marketed by Quest Metal Works, Ltd., of British Columbia, Canada. A device identified as Aquamatic, and which incorporates a multitude of water spraying, is manufactured and marketed by Aqumatic Systems, Ltd., of Reno, Nev. A device for ventilating kitchens is marketed under the name Aqua-Vent, by Atlantic Metal Fabricators, Inc., of Dorchester, Mass. Another unit for providing ventilation above gas or electric ranges is marketed under the name Simplex, by Doane Manufacturing Co., of Wheeling, Ill. Gaylord Ventilators, which incorporates hot water spraying, within or below a hood, is marketed by Gaylord Industries, Inc., of Wilsonville, Oreg. Greitzer, Inc., of Riverdale, N.J., markets a commercial kitchen ventilator system, and which incorporates spraying of hot water mainly for wash down of the interior of the hood, to function as an accumulated grease extractor. McGraw-Edison Company, of St. Louis, Mo., markets a Seco-Wash Ventilator, which incorporates the serpentine movement of exhaust gases through its hood, and embodies amorphous spraying of a hot-detergent water spray for eliminating and extracting grease.
Thus, in view of the foregoing, it can be seen that there are a large variety of ventilating hoods, which separately include either random spraying means for cleaning condensed grease off of the interior of the designed hood, or other units which circulate, or even recirculate, hot water, some even including detergent, for cleansing of the interior of a hood. Other devices add a mist or aerosol of moisture into a hood for air cleansing.
But, it does not appear that the prior art provides a comprehensive cold water and detergent solution wash within a ventilating hood, in proximity within an exhaust chamber, which directs a cone shaped and particularly configured spray that blankets and provides an aquatic shield throughout the exhaust chamber, and through which the exhaust gases must pass, for the purpose of scrubbing the air of its contained impurities, debris, and grease particles, for washing away an accumulation of such deleterious particles for collection within a reservoir and disposal. Then, the unit of this invention provides for recirculation of its reservoired cold water and detergent composition, and can sense when additional detergent, or clean water, must be added to the reservoir, in order to assure the efficient operations of this ventilating system of this invention.
It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide a comprehensive cold water-detergent combination in solution recirculated within a particularly designed canopy, which may include a series of aligned or adjacent ventilating hoods, for scrubbing of deleterious particles from the exhaust air before it is discharged to the atmosphere, or perhaps even recirculated, under particular applications.
Another significant object of this invention is to provide a particularly configured and patterned spray of a water-detergent solution within the exhaust chamber of a ventilating hood for the purpose of providing an aquatic shield throughout the extent of the internal formed chamber for the purpose of scrubbing any debris, and grease, from the gases as they pass to and through the exhaust outlet for the system.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a structured ventilating hood, contained within a canopy, wherein a series of baffling means are particularly arranged in order to provide a flow path for the fumes and smoke arising from a cooker, fryer, or heating surface, and which channels said gases into an exhaust chamber where cold water wash scrubbing means effectively eliminates any debris from the traveling gases before they are exhausted to the atmosphere.
In view of the foregoing, it is another object of this invention to provide a minimum of baffle means particularly oriented within the ventilating system canopy, and which functions as a means for channeling the sprayed wash water towards a formed collection basin, where the accumulated water is drained to a reservoir, in preparation for recirculation within the wash water scrubbing system of this invention.
Another object of this invention is to provide means within a recirculation unit, used in conjunction with a ventilating system, sensing and detecting when additional detergent is required, fresh wash water is needed, for all adding such compositions into a recirculation reservoir before it is pumped to the spray heads contained within the exhaust hood of the configured ventilating system.
These and other objects will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the summary of this invention, and upon undertaking a study of the description of its preferred embodiment, in view of the drawings.